Zia-ur-Rahman sought to challenge what he called his “illegal arrest and detention” in US courts.  — File Photo

WASHINGTON: A federal judge has turned down an Afghan man’s plea to challenge his confinement at a US air base in Afghanistan.

US District Judge James S Gwin ruled Tuesday he lacks jurisdiction to hear the case.

Zia-ur-Rahman says in court papers he’s been detained at Bagram Airfield since 2008, when the US military captured him during a raid on his home.

Zia-ur-Rahman sought to challenge what he called his “illegal arrest and detention” in US courts.

Gwin said a 2010 federal appeals court decision denied that right to three foreigners detained at Bagram in a case “nearly identical” to Zia-ur-Rahman’s.

In that case, the court ruled that detainees at Bagram can’t use US courts to challenge their imprisonment the way detainees at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have.